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78:1  A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph. Listen, O my people, to my teaching; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
78:2  I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples]; I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—
78:3  Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
78:4  We will not hide them from their children, But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
78:5  For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
78:6  That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born May arise and recount them to their children,
78:7  That they should place their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments,
78:8  And not be like their fathers— A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
78:9  The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows, Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
78:10  They did not keep the covenant of God And refused to walk according to His law;
78:11  And they forgot His [incredible] works And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
78:12  He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
78:13  He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it, And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.
78:14  In the daytime He led them with a cloud And all the night with a light of fire.
78:15  He split rocks in the wilderness And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
78:16  He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh] And caused waters to run down like rivers.
78:17  Yet they still continued to sin against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
78:18  And in their hearts they put God to the test By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
78:19  Then they spoke against God; They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
78:20  “Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out And the streams overflowed; Can He give bread also? Or will He provide meat for His people?”
78:21  Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath; A fire was kindled against Jacob, And His anger mounted up against Israel,
78:22  Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him], And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
78:23  Yet He commanded the clouds from above And opened the doors of heaven;
78:24  And He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them the grain of heaven.
78:25  Man ate the bread of angels; God sent them provision in abundance.
78:26  He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
78:27  He rained meat upon them like the dust, And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.
78:28  And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, Around their tents.
78:29  So they ate and were well filled, He gave them what they craved.
78:30  Before they had satisfied their desire, And while their food was in their mouths,
78:31  The wrath of God rose against them And killed some of the strongest of them, And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
78:32  In spite of all this they still sinned, For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
78:33  Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility] And their years in sudden terror.
78:34  When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him, And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
78:35  And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
78:36  Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths And lied to Him with their tongues.
78:37  For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful to His covenant.
78:38  But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them; Many times He restrained His anger And did not stir up all His wrath.
78:39  For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh, A wind that goes and does not return.
78:40  How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!
78:41  Again and again they tempted God, And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
78:42  They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand, Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
78:43  How He worked His miracles in Egypt And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
78:44  And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they could not drink.
78:45  He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them, And frogs which destroyed them.
78:46  He also gave their crops to the grasshopper, And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47  He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones And their sycamore trees with frost.
78:48  He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones, And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.
78:49  He sent upon them His burning anger, His fury and indignation and distress, A band of angels of destruction [among them].
78:50  He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run]; He did not spare their souls from death, But turned over their lives to the plague.
78:51  He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
78:52  But God led His own people forward like sheep And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
78:53  He led them safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea engulfed their enemies.
78:54  So He brought them to His holy land, To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
78:55  He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned; And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
78:56  Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
78:57  They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
78:58  For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship] And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
78:59  When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath; And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
78:60  So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh, The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
78:61  And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity, And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).
78:62  He also handed His people over to the sword, And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).
78:63  The fire [of war] devoured His young men, And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
78:64  His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword, And His widows could not weep.
78:65  Then the Lord awakened as from sleep, Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
78:66  He drove His enemies backward; He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
78:67  Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
78:68  But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader], Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
78:69  And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens], Like the earth which He has established forever.
78:70  He also chose David His servant And took him from the sheepfolds;
78:71  From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.
78:72  So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart; And guided them with his skillful hands.